Hi all.
I've been trying to photography fast flying, unpredictable small birds (Wrens, Fantails etc- I'm in Australia).
Sometimes they just burst out of thicket type bushes and by the time I get the camera to my eye (even when held close in expectation) and get them in the viewfinder it's too late, they've either gone too far away or into another bush.

I wondered if anyone has used the 'red dot' sights that some hunters use on rifles and pistols.
From memory they allow you to keep two eyes open and only see the dot (which appears free floating) when your barrel is lined up with it.

I was thinking if I set one up on the camera, with the dot lined up with my focus point, I could aim it accurately without having to use the viewfinder.

several ppl I knw use this... I played with it and found after working more with my focus point I became just as efficient as with the red dot.. but like I said I know several ppl who use it... I always worried about my focus point and dot being exactly on the same point and I know others have issues with this at times...

IF... you could manage to get the dot on the subject which would be as hard or harder than almost centering in your viewfinder you would then have a red dot in your pic that needed removing.
If your subject is in flight or sparse branches the dot won't appear until it hits either the bird or surrounding branches,it would be very hard to find the dot let alone put it on your subject especially in flight with nothing around it.

Patience,time and practice sprinkled with some luck is the best way I think.

Besides if ya hit one of those birds in flight in the eye with the laser it's liable to crash into something...

kpr, I believe the type of sight mention is the ones that project a virtual red dot in your vision when you look through it. It doesn't fire anything at the subject. Something like this might fit on the flash hotshoe for example. A possible advantage of this over the conventional viewfinder is that you could have more situational awareness as opposed to viewfinder tunnel vision. You would still need to align the red dot on the focus point and then have faith the focus point will lock on as you wont see what is it doing.

one of the guys on my fall bear trip had one... we all took a look at his version.. in the end, even though the guy liked it, we thought we did just as well without it... he brought up the situational awareness as well... in the end I guess it works for some and not for others.

He still didnt see the martin, the stellar jay and several other things.

My question related to the type that Popo refers to. When set up, you see an illuminated red dot, and the barrel/lens will be aligned with whatever falls under that spot in your vision (Not laser sights which project onto the target).

Those youtube links are great, THANKS!.

I was also just thinking that a tube, like about the size of a emptied toiler roll centre, mounted onto the lens might work almost as well.

The point of it is for the times where you 1. Cannot keep the viewfinder up to your eye for extended periods + 2. The viewfinder doesn't give a wide enough FOV to see the birds when they start flying.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. I'll post how I get on - good or bad....

I think it's a good idea. I'm new to photography, but I've been hunting my whole life. Last year I put some florescent glowing clip things on mine and my sons shotgun sights. It really didn't make any difference to me, however it improved my sons shooting a lot.

Mostly it's just practice though, eventually you will train your brain and muscles to lead the birds the right amount and they will be in the viewfinder every time you pull up

Some other ideas that can help situational awareness a bit when shooting birds in flight, that might work as well, or better, than the sight:

Rather than single-eying the viewfinder and tracking, I always keep my other eye open and the camera backed off from my eye just an inch or so, enough that I have one eye registering the viewfinder view from a distance, and the other eye tracking the scene. The camera can stay close to my face and in traditional and stable stance, but allowing me pretty good spacial awareness and tracking. Once I feel I've got the lens on the small bird, I pull the camera up to my eye and work on focusing - either using AF if I feel the opportunity presents, or using MF. I often prefocus the lens a bit at the expected range so there is less focus movement needed to get the bird. I have found it easier and easier over the past years to catch birds in flight of all sizes, even the near-impossible little guys are starting to get caught in my frames (swallows and such). Also, consider some kind of shoulder camera mount/base - many are designed like rifle stocks with tripod mounts on top, and a forward handle, with some having shutter releases built in for remote connection. These can help for accurate tracking and movement with longer lenses, since the motion and handling is much like a gun.

I tried a red-dot sight on a friend's camera, but I didn't find it all that useful for me - I didn't really track any better than without, and I found myself less aware of my camera's settings since I couldn't see the aperture/shutter in the viewfinder.